Zen Miracles: Finding Peace in an Insane World

by Brenda Shoshanna

Overview

This wonderful book brings East and West—and ancient and modern worlds—together and provides profound wisdom and guidance for anyone struggling with stress, anxiety, anger, fear, or loneliness. Beautifully written, funny, warm, and filled with unusual, wonderful exercises. A real miracle.—Rabbi Gary Moskowitz, Director of the Institute for Violence Prevention

"A healing journey into the inner conflicts and contradictions that separate spirit from self." —Armand DiMele, the DiMele Center for Psychotherapy

"Dr. Brenda Shoshanna is a versatile, creative, warm, and truly excellent teacher." —Rabbi Joseph Gelberman, founder of the Interfaith Seminary and Director of the All Faith Seminary

"Zen Miracles is an inviting and inspiring message for those looking for a more simple and powerful way to enhance their lives and for those who want to integrate a practical way of peace in today's distorted and increasingly violent world."—Bob Goff, NY Naturally

"Zen Miracles is a book that is invaluable for anyone seeking to bring a profound, yet genuinely joyous, experience to life. Brenda Shoshanna explores the spiritual and therapeutic aspects of Zen practice in a way that is acceptable to anyone, no matter what their faith, philosophy, or religious beliefs. With her warm and compassionate style, she exhibits the unique ability to explain even the most difficult ideas in understandable terms. Her approach is readily accessible and applicable to even the most mundane of activities. This book is a must for anyone seeking the secrets for attaining a balanced life and true peace of mind."—Lewis Harrison, Director of the Academy of Natural Healing

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471414810
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	03/01/2002
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	659,501
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 9.34(h) x 0.93(d)

About the Author

BRENDA SHOSHANNA, Ph.D., is the relationships expert on iVillage.com. A psychologist and psychotherapist in practice for more than twenty-five years, she has been a Zen practitioner for twenty-eight years. Dr. Brenda has taught both Zen and psychology classes at Marymount College, the Zen Studies Society, and the New Seminary, and she has given workshops at New York's Learning Annex and elsewhere. She has made television appearances on ABC and NBC, and has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle, and the Daily News.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.

Special Thanks.

Introduction.

PART I: GETTING STARTED.

What Is Zen?

How to Do It.

Welcome to the World of Koans.

Peeling Onions Day By Day.

Doing Nothing.

PART 2: CRAVINGS AND COMPULSIONS.

Quieting the Monkey Mind.

Loneliness and Separation.

Feeding the Hungry Heart.

Ambition: Taming the Violent Mind.

PART 3: LETTING GO.

Grasping and Holding On.

Empty Hands.

Pilgrimage.

PART 4: DISSOLVING THE FALSE SELF.

Putting Toys Away.

When Medicine Turns to Poison.

The True Man of No Rank.

The Zen Fisherman.

PART 5: ZEN, GOD, AND ENLIGHTENMENT.

Walking Through the Gateless Gate.

Zen and God.

Zen Cautions.

Zen Miracle Commandments.

Bibliography.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

It's virtually axiomatic now that America has its own brand of Zen Buddhism, and the author of this skilled volume proves the point. Shoshanna is a Hasidic Jew who has been both practicing zazen and maintaining a psychotherapy practice for more than 25 years. Here she weaves a fine tapestry out of these splendid, assorted threads. Five sections ("Getting Started," "Cravings and Compulsions," "Letting Go," Dissolving the False Self" and "Zen, God and Enlightenment") use traditional Buddhist and contemporary American stories and quotes and lucid prose to invite anyone and everyone down Zen's calming, clarifying garden path. These forms are supplemented by both provocative koans and "Zen in Action" exercises at the conclusion of each of the 18 short chapters. The last chapter, "Zen and God," might well have been placed first, since it elucidates the neutrality of Zen that can make it completely compatible with other institutionalized or personalized beliefs. This book has less to do with the mechanics of sitting and more to do with the realities of integrating Zen practice into real life. Shoshanna extends an empty and richly filled hand, offering both the sublime and the practical, which are one and the same in the Zen world. This is a highly recommended volume for beginners and new practitioners who are coming to the truth that "to find the answers to your life questions, you must look within. Nothing less will do. Nothing more is needed." (Apr.) Forecast: Shoshanna is the "relationships expert" on ivillage.com, which should help with the strategic marketing of this title. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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